What Is VPS Hosting

VPS hosting is generally regarded as the solution which bridges the gap between shared hosting and having a dedicated server or cloud. It’s a cost effective alternative for businesses who are outgrowing their basic packages but are not yet at the stage where they need to (and/or are able to) invest larger amounts in to their IT infrastructure.

What is VPS hosting?

VPS stands for Virtual Private Server and it differs from shared hosting and dedicated hosting in a number of key ways, whilst still sharing similarities with both. If you are a shared hosting customer, you may be aware of the fact that your web hosting package is hosted on a single server along with dozens, maybe hundreds of other people’s packages. The same can be said for a VPS. The key difference is, that a VPS offers you dedicated resources, and runs independently from other VPS’s on the server. It essentially acts exactly as a dedicated server would, and you can do anything on there that you would be able to on a dedicated server, just within a virtual environment.

Who might use it?

You might choose a VPS if you were outgrowing your current shared hosting and wanted to move to the next logical step up. You also may be interested in a dedicated server but not quite have the knowledge to be able to manage them effectively. A VPS is a great starter option in which you can develop your skills without incurring the expense of a dedicated server or cloud.

What are it’s benefits?

As we’ve touched on previously, it’s much less expensive than a dedicated server but still has a lot of the same functionality.

Different options for resources so you can choose the specification that suits your needs best. It’s really easy to move to the next package up and beyond too, and with CWCS an upgrade to your VPS can be performed in seconds. In other words, your VPS server can grow with you, rather than you ever having to pay for unnecessary resources.

You have a lot more control and flexibility with a VPS as with shared hosting as it’s your own personal environment, for example the ability to choose add ons and run scripts that you wouldn’t necessarily have been able to do with shared hosting.

With CWCS, you can add one of our enhanced support packages on to a VPS in the same way as you can a dedicated server or cloud.

Are there any disadvantages?

It is more expensive than shared hosting, and so before upgrading you’d need to weigh up the benefits against the added cost and work out if it’s the right thing for your business.

You’re still sharing the physical server with other customers, and unlike cloud hosting, a VPS is not redundant and so should anything go wrong with the physical box, your VPS will be affected too.

A VPS can be a lot more complicated to manage than shared hosting and so if you’re new to server management you may get stuck. (Luckily, the CWCS support team are always on hand to help!)

Conclusion

A VPS is a great option if you’ve been using a shared hosting package up to now and are looking to move to the next natural step, if you’ve outgrown a basic package. Because you can enjoy many of the benefits and support levels of a dedicated server without incurring the same level of costs, it’s a popular choice for many businesses who need more flexibility and performance from their hosting but aren’t quite at the stage where they can invest lots of money in to their IT infrastructure.

If you think that VPS hosting might be the way forward for you, get in touch with a CWCS hosting specialist today to discuss your options.